


Dropping Eaves

by bookwyrmling



Series: Pillar Pair Weeks 2016 [5]
Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Eavesdropping, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 23:13:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11861625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookwyrmling/pseuds/bookwyrmling
Summary: Kaidoh stumbles on a scene he probably should not continue watching.





	Dropping Eaves

**Author's Note:**

> So I cheated for this day and edited part of a WIP as a standalone. This is for Day 7 of Pillar Pair Weeks 2016. Prompt: Brood.
> 
> Cross-posted from Tumblr.

He had been running for a little less than an hour. So accustomed to running, Kaidoh was certain that, at his standard pace, he had managed a solid fifteen kilometers—if not sixteen—in his run around the town this morning, even if it was a new trail whose exact distance he did not know. With heavy breaths, the young man ripped his bandana off his head and wiped at his forehead, jaw and neck.

The doorman at the hotel everyone was staying at in Munich ushered Kaidoh in as he drew near, likely recognizing him from the daily runs he had been doing ever since their arrival before the Open Tezuka and Echizen were competing in had started, and Kaidoh sent him a nod and a hiss of gratitude to which the doorman did not respond.

It was as he was walking towards the stairwell—Kaidoh made it a habit to take stairs over elevator when the option was available—that he caught sight of a familiar head of brown hair. Tezuka was here early, for some reason, though it took only one more glance to recognize that Echizen—of all people, Echizen, who rarely woke up on time, let alone early, even now—was standing with him.

“And you swear you’ll be better for Madrid?”

The words were soft. Kaidoh barely heard them, but, wanting to know the answer after Tezuka had been forced to withdraw due to his elbow acting up against Bellucci’s strong topspin, as well, he remained standing where he was: close enough to hear but hidden by a potted plant of some sort. If he moved a few leaves out of the way, he could see the back of Echizen’s head and most of Tezuka’s face.

Tezuka let out a small laugh and a smile, “I’ve sworn, the doctors have sworn, Ryoma. If you don’t believe me yet, I don’t know what will help.”

Kaidoh choked.  _ Ryoma. _ While he had not doubted Inui’s deductions or Fuji’s statements when they had told the group Tezuka and Echizen were secretly in a relationship, it was one thing to hear your old tennis captain and clubmate were dating but quite another to see irrefutable evidence.  _ Ryoma. _ Tezuka had called Echizen  _ Ryoma. _

Echizen harrumphed before reaching out to the braced arm held tight against Tezuka’s chest. “It doesn’t look minor,” he worried and Tezuka’s indulgent smile only grew. “The compression sleeve is simply there to help with swelling and pain while the brace is to keep my elbow immobilized and rested. The brace, if not both, will be off by finals.”

“If you say so,” Echizen continued to grumble, though his voice sounded substantially lighter compared to earlier. His fingertips never stopped tracing over the immobilizer brace. “You know,” he continued in a gruff voice, “if you keep this up, I’m going to fly right by you in the rankings.”

“I’ll just make sure to return the favor,” Tezuka replied glibly and Kaidoh suddenly realized this was the two teasing each other. Flirting? He couldn’t breathe. He was quite sure his face had either gone stark white or Seigaku blue.

The elevator dinged and doors opened across the lobby. Momoshiro’s loud voice boomed even to the quiet corner Kaidoh was in and was followed shortly by Kikumaru’s. “Ochibi wasn’t waking up at all, was he?” “I didn’t hear a peep or a stir,” Momoshiro responded, “I hope he doesn’t sleep through his match. Not like anyone can stand in for him as a pro.”

Kaidoh was not the only one who had heard their arrival and, as he turned his attention back to Tezuka and Echizen, they were standing much further apart.

“You’ll be watching?” Echizen asked with bated breath.

Tezuka’s smile was short-lived this time, but Kaidoh saw it all the same. “Of course,” he replied with a bemused tone and a glint in his eyes. Tezuka had watched each and every one of Echizen’s matches with the group so far, just as Echizen had watched Tezuka’s. It helped they were on opposite sides of the bracket so played on opposing days.

Echizen turned to leave after one more whispered comment and Kaidoh’s eyes widened, realizing he would be seen if he did not move soon, now, immediately. But, right before he could panic or be caught, a hand shot out and dragged him behind a pillar.

“Here, Kaidoh. Drink this and calm down.”

A bottle of something was shoved into the man’s hands and, without thinking about what it was or who had given it to him, Kaidoh knocked back the beverage. For a moment he did not recognize what it was. For a moment, right before his taste buds fully analyzed what it was he had put in his mouth and his brain had translated exactly who had given him the beverage, Kaidoh was grateful. He certainly had not wanted to be caught eavesdropping. He did not want anyone to realize it after the fact, either. But then the taste hit and he realized it was Inui’s hand who had passed him the bottle and Inui’s voice who had told him to drink with a glint of his square-rimmed glasses.

Kaidoh’s left hand twitched, a thick orange beverage dribbled down his chin, and he instantly collapsed.

“That was pretty quick thinking, Inui,” Fuji smiled as he walked up to the man who was taking the pulse of the unconscious education major and opening his eyelids to check for pupil dilation and light response, “There was no way Kaidoh would have been capable of bringing himself under control in time after seeing and hearing that.”

Inui flipped to an alternate page in his notebook and marked down a few numbers across a row before turning up to look at Fuji. “I just needed some data on my newest Inui Juice creation,” he explained, adjusting his glasses on his nose.

Fuji chuckled.

“Is that so? I didn’t realize you were still improving upon those,” he asked as he eyed Kaidoh’s prone and twitching form, “I might be willing to give it a try after the match today.”

Inui’s smile—the one that had pressed even Tezuka into faster and faster laps in Junior High—glinted in the morning light.


End file.
